


Nightmares

by unusuallyeddie



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Nightmares, Sorta Fluffy, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, most just bucky/tony bonding, no IW spoilers as I havent seen it yet, nothing graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-02 05:50:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14538033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unusuallyeddie/pseuds/unusuallyeddie
Summary: Steve is always the one to comfort Tony when he has his nightmares. But one night when Steve is away, it's up to Bucky to comfort their smallest lover.





	Nightmares

Steve, Tony, and Bucky had all been dating for a while now, and things had been...interesting. On top of all their respective baggage, there was the whole stigma of three people being in a relationship, and well, let's just say they dealt with a lot of ignorance coming their way.

However, not all of their problems came from outsiders.

They all had way too much trauma in their past, stemmed from years of hurt and repression, and they all suffered from bouts of depression and PTSD.

Tony, however, seemed to be the worst.

This was in no way saying Tony had the worst trauma. No, they all agreed that they had equal trauma, and plenty to go around at that. But while Bucky and Steve tended to work out their frustration at the world through physical activity, and even talking to each other when it came down to it, Tony clammed up and refused to speak to anyone.

So yeah, he was the one who the other two were constantly concerned about.

To an outside eye, Tony was fine. Cool and collected, calm and confident. But Steve and Bucky knew the panic attacks, the flashbacks, the nightmares…

Oh god, the nightmares. 

They all had nightmares, but Tony seemed to get them the most often, rolling around fitfully in his sleep and whining a bit like a lost puppy. Steve, ever the mother of their odd little trio, was usually the one to wake up and wake Tony, holding him close as the older man hyperventilated hysterically into his chest and gasped out words or phrases that hinted at the horrors in his head, or at least until Tony got himself together and pushed Steve away, putting up that damned wall again.

But now, Steve was out of town, and Bucky was left staring uncomfortably at Tony, who had silent tears streaming down his cheek even as his eyes remained closed.

Now, Bucky was no stranger to dealing with emotions. But the emotions he was used to were, well, Steve’s emotions and on the odd occasion, his own. But Tony was like a minefield, one wrong step and you were suddenly missing a limb.

Well, another limb, in Buckys case.

But yeah, here he was, at three in the morning, staring helplessly at the genius who had gone to bed only an hour ago.

A whine escaped Tony’s lips, along with a sound that sounded suspiciously like Steve and Bucky’s names, and Bucky found himself laying a cautious hand on Tonys shoulder to shake him awake.

In an instant, Tony's eyes flew open, and he shot straight up, hands going up in a typical plea for surrender. That was when he saw his attacker was just Bucky, staring wide-eyed and broken-hearted at his lovers actions.

“Doll…” Bucky whispered, slowly reaching out to Tony, making sure the other could see his hands, eager to get rid of the heart-wrenchingly wary look on his face. “Doll, come here.”   


The pet name seemed to compute to something in Tony's brain, and the fog disappeared from his eyes, and a sudden clarity seemed to hit him. “B...Buck?” He stammered out, obviously still unsure of what was around him.

“Yeah, I’m here.” Bucky said softly, taking Tony’s hand.

“Where’s Steve?”   


Bucky's heart broke a bit in his chest, but he ignored it, choosing instead to rub small circles into the back of his lovers hand. “He’s on a mission doll, but I’m here.”  _ I’ll always be here _ , he added mentally, hoping Tony knew what he could never voice.

Evidently that was enough for Tony, because he all but threw himself at Bucky, causing the ex-assassin to thank God for his enhanced reflexes as he caught the now-sobbing genius.

Bucky immediately went to work, rubbing Tony's back and whispering sweet nothings into his hair, occasionally pressing a kiss to the soft locks.

“Dead.” Tony managed to gasp out, clinging desperately to his lover. “All dead.” And then he fell silent, leaving Bucky gaping into his hair as he processed what Tony said.

How often did Tony dream of this? Of him, of Steve, of the team, just laying there cold and lifeless? How often did the seemingly uncaring billionaire wake up in a cold sweat because he cared too much and let it destroy him?

Bucky fell back into comforting Tony, letting the thoughts in his head spin absently. Did Tony always dream about them dying? Granted ,with their job it was an occupational hazard, but it wasn’t remotely healthy for Tony to think about it as often as he evidently did.

Tony let out another harsh sob, and Bucky was quick to continue carding his fingers through Tony's dark hair and muttering soft words of comfort, in either English or Russian, he himself wasn’t too sure at this point. 

But whatever it was, it worked, for it wasn’t long before Tony started breathing more evenly, and his grip on Bucky's shirt loosened, and the more gentle sobs were few and far in between.

After a few more minutes of gentle comfort, Bucky risked looking down at Tony’s tear-streaked face, only to smile softly as he noticed that the other had fallen asleep once more, cuddled up against Bucky’s broad chest like a child.

Bucky, resigned to his new job as a pillow, leaned against the headboard and closed his eyes.

Might as well get some sleep before Tony inevitably woke up and pushed him away once more.

~

Steve crept quietly into the bedroom in the early light of the morning after he got home from his mission for SHIELD, heart jumping happily in his chest as he saw Bucky and Tony twined together on the bed, wrapped so intently around each other that the blonde couldn’t tell where one ended and the other one began.

He knew this would happen when he accepted his mission. His two lovers would finally grow closer to each other, no longer relying on Steve to ease the way into their relationship.

He smiled, before joining them on the bed and falling almost immediately into a deep sleep.

All was well.

**Author's Note:**

> My first Marvel work (I think), so that's fun. Hope you guys liked it, please leave kudos and comments if you did!


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